1 research outputs found
Exploring UK Knife crime and its associated factors: A content analysis of online newspapers
Knife crime has become a common phrase used by the media, but it is not always clear what it refers to or what
they mean when they use the term. Knife crime can cover many offences, making it challenging to define and
estimate its prevalence. This review aimed to evaluate potential knife crimes in the UK from 2011 to 2021 and
analyse the causes and risk factors associated with the crimes. Six UK online news portals were purposefully
chosen to be included in the study, and knife crime news was searched retrospectively. The term "knife crime"
was used to search. The news portals were the: Metro, the Sun, the Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and the
Evening Standard. In the assigned news portals, 692 reports were found between January 2011 and December
2021. The study revealed that the 11-20 years of age group individuals are more vulnerable as victims, and
males are more reported as victims when compared to females. About 61.8% of knife crimes are reported from
South England. Knife crime risk is higher in early adulthood and among males. Street violence, fights/gang
attacks, family issues and robbery are the leading causes of knife crime and have all been identified as risk
factors that must be addressed with caution